Lincoln Crossing Chosen as New Elementary School Site

In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the Western Placer Unified School District decided that Lincoln Crossing is where the next elementary school will be built.
Leaman told the News Messenger Oct. 7 that it “makes sense” to build the new school in Lincoln Crossing because 200 children from Lincoln Crossing are being re-directed to other schools in Lincoln.
The school board also decided Tuesday to request an extension for the possible Twelve Bridges elementary school site, which is owned by Placer Holdings, Inc.
Leaman said Oct. 15 that the school board would recommend the extension for the Twelve Bridges elementary school site because of the bypass being built near the Lincoln Crossing school site.
The superintendent said the only reason the extension would be requested is “because the district would need to get the school site in Lincoln Crossing approved by the California Department of Education.”
There are safety guidelines when it comes to how close to schools are to major roads, according to Leaman. The major road in this case is the bypass.
The school site is 1,848 feet from the bypass and any onramps or off-ramps related to the bypass, according to Cathy Allen, assistant superintendent for the school board at Tuesday’s meeting.
She said that there is a problem when a school site is 500 feet or closer to a major road.
“We believe the bypass won’t have any affect on approval of the site but we will have to go back to the California Department of Education,” Allen added.
When the school site was first pre-approved in 2008, Leaman said that the district did not know exactly where the bypass would be built. The school site was pre-approved when the General Plan was approved, according to Leaman.
“We want to be thorough,” Leaman said. “We don’t want to build the school and have the Department of Education disapprove.”
He said that the Twelve Bridges school site would be a “back-up site” if the other school site isn’t approved.
On Monday, the News Messenger asked parents at Peter Singer Park where they would prefer the elementary school be built.
“It’s really frustrating for us knowing that our kids aren’t going to be going to the school,” said Tammy Spohr, who lives four blocks away from Lincoln Crossing Elementary School. She has one son who will potentially attend Lincoln Crossing Elementary School.
She said that there are new homes being built in Lincoln Crossing and that building should be stopped until the new elementary school is built.
“We would love a school,” said Raechele McNeel-Caird, another parent at the park. Her daughter is currently in kindergarten at Twelve Bridges Elementary School, as part of the overflow. “I love the school (Twelve Bridges Elementary) but don’t like the drive.”
McNeel-Caird’s family lives across the street from the new school site.
“We were supposed to have the school built by this year,” McNeel-Caird said.
Her husband, Luke McNeel-Caird, addressed the school board that night and said that he was “upset that Lincoln Crossing Elementary only accepts 100 kids into kindergarten.”
“There should have been a stop on building if we are not going to have the parks and schools in,” Luke McNeel-Caird said.